AREA FAMOUS FOR 2015 CLINTON CORRECTIONAL FACILITY ESCAPE

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This is a breaking news report. Check back for updates.

June 7, 2024. UPDATED 10:14 pm.

Four armed men in a stolen car fled a police stop near the Canadian border late Friday afternoon, triggering a manhunt.

"State Police initiated a pursuit of a stolen vehicle with stolen long guns out of Berkshire, NY," they said in a news release. "The car became stuck, and the suspects fled into a wooded area."

One suspect was caught within minutes. The remaining three fled into a swampy area. A second suspect was caught soonafter. Guns were found in the abandoned vehicle.

State Police, U.S. Border Patrol officers, New York State Forest Rangers and a tactical unit of local county sheriffs set a perimeter around the swamp. Multiple police K-9 units and a drone joined the search for them. 

Burke, New York, where the search is underway, is 400 miles north of New York City on the north side of the Adirondack mountains. The town's northern border is Canada's southern border. The area is a remote and rugged patchwork of farms and forests.

It is famous for another manhunt: the search for Richard Matt and David Sweat who broke out of New York's maximum-security prison in nearby Dannemora, New York in 2015.

As darkness began to fall minutes after 8:00, police saw two men running in a farm field next to U.S. Route 11 towards a patch of woods close to the border. Police gave chase, but they eluded capture.

State Police identified the suspects as 17-year-old white male, Jaden Labare, and a 16-year-old black male, Devan Smith Bell, in a news release asking for the public’s assistance locating them. Police said they were armed with a rifle.

“Do not approach them, if you have information regarding this incident please contact, the New York State Police at 518-563-3761.”

It rained heavily earlier in the evening, and the temperature was forcast to fall close to 50 degrees overnight. Wearing wet clothing, the teens would be exposed to hypothermia.

Less than a mile from the Candian border, a 9-1-1 caller reported hearing the knob of their front-door jingle as if someone was attempting to open it.

Police responded, and continued their search for the suspects throughout the night. They established a new perimeter around the expansive but contained area they though the suspects were in. The area is dotted with active and disused Amish farms, without electricity. The teens were likely hiding out in a disused barn or other structure.

Police brought in reinforcements as the sun rose, including aircraft.

“Labare and Bell were located and detained,” the State Police said in a news release Saturday morning., “All four suspects are in custody.”

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